BRIDGEPORT -- A city police sergeant, accused of hiding his grandson from State Police who were seeking to return the boy to his mother, hobbled into court Tuesday on crutches, saying the case had ruined his health.

But 10 minutes after a judge granted him accelerated rehabilitation, Johnny Devone was a new man.

The crutches clutched under one arm, he nimbly danced away from a reporter and moved quickly down the street.

Earlier, Devone's lawyer, Deron Freeman, had argued in court that his client should get the special probation program because of his failing health and lack of intent to do anything in violation of the law.

"He made some mistakes because of his love for the child and, as a result, he has gotten a lot of negative publicity and his health has deteriorated," Freeman told state Superior Court Judge Richard Arnold.

But Assistant State's Attorney Tiffany Lockshier urged the judge to deny the program for Devone.

"He not only is a police officer, but he is a supervisor of police officers whose job is to uphold the law, not break it," she said.

Devone is accused of blocking state police efforts to return his 3-year-old grandson to the boy's mother, Brittany Finley, even though she had two orders from a Georgia court and one from a local judge to return the boy to Georgia.

He had been brought to Connecticut by his father, John Devone, for what was supposed to be a visit. John Devone was extradited to Georgia to face charges there.

Armed with a search-and-seizure warrant, about a dozen members of the state police went to Devone's home to get the boy in the middle of the night on March 11, 2013, only to be told by Devone that the child was somewhere in Massachusetts. Devone also said he would not help state police find the boy, the arrest warrant affidavit states.

A witness subsequently directed state police to a house a few streets away where they found the child with his grandmother, Johnny Devone's wife, the affidavit states.

When state police obtained Devone's cellphone records, they discovered he had been on the phone with his wife just before state police came to his home.

While Arnold agreed that Devone should be held to a higher standard because he is a police officer, he said: "This was a family situation, and sometimes in a family situation people do things their better judgment would tell them not to do."

Accelerated rehabilitation is a pretrial program for first-time, nonviolent offenders. Although Devone had previously been granted accelerated rehabilitation in a prior, nonrelated case, the judge said he was qualified again for it because he is a veteran.

Devone, 64, did not plead guilty to the charges of interfering with an officer and custodial interference, but instead was placed on two years' probation by the judge. He was also ordered to pay $500 to charity and do 50 hours of community service.

If he successfully completes the probation, the charges will be dismissed.

A supervisor in the detective bureau, Devone, a 29-year veteran of the department, was reassigned to the records room at the Police Department following his arrest. He earns $71,276 a year,